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History of Asha Mumbai Center (From Smita Puniyani):
As there was always a deep seated desire in my heart to do something to change the way society is. I observed and always pained to see it that there are lots of injustice in the society like caste, gender, religious discrimination and denial of constitutional rights to the weaker sections of the society. This led me to think what can I do ? And gradually it settled in my mind that education is the only way one can contribute to the change in the situation.
I joined Pratham NGO, started visiting municipal school in Powai and offered my volunteering services but BMC did not allow any outsider NGO to teach except giving some 45 minutes class on Saturdays. While trying out all such things I had already started teaching two boys whose mother was a rag-picker and they were sheltered by a scooter mechanic to prevent the boys from getting injured if they would go with the mother. I offered to put the kids in a school and they willingly went .This inspired me to teach more kids from the slum .And gradually the no of kids went on increasing. My patients would also offer to teach.
Gradually I came to know about Asha for Education and tried to meet some Asha Vols in Mumbai. Then we moved from clinic to a room for teaching the kids and with the support from Asha for Education after proper verification the Asha Mumbai Center was born. It expanded from 15 to 150 students. Initially we used to take students from std 1st to std 7 th. Later, we got the qualified teachers and went on to teach higher std students. At Present we are supporting the kids from standard 5th to 12th and above that Asha Mumbai center offers scholarships. We are inching towards a well established tuition center.
Our long term goal is to work towards removing the huge gap between privileged verses underprivileged sections and to bring in a sea change through all round education i.e. educating people not only academically but also making them aware about environment, healthcare, and various constitutional
rights which in turn make all the people live with dignity and respect with higher standards of living. We also want to create an Army of younger generation who thinks analytically, critically and become a great contributor to the just society.
Main functioning and Mission of the center today:
The center functions from 8 AM to eve 9PM. There are 8 to 10 paid teachers in various levels. Two of them are from IIT – one holding PhD degree and one MSc. Other teachers are also well qualified teachers. We are getting regular student volunteers from IIT Mumbai and St Xaviers under a
structured program. Apart from that, lots of other volunteers from the community are teaching at Asha. The mission is to provide the best possible assistance almost equivalent to the privileged class children to the most underprivileged students who just would not get an opportunity otherwise due to their socioeconomic conditions. This is to create a model that can scale up for larger no of students.
Success Stories:
1) Shrawan Kanojia (Interior Designer):
Family background: youngest son of a retired washer man, living in the slum near IIT Mumbai. Eldest brother is a carpenter but he is not earning regularly due to drinking habits. His other brother is jobless. He has been attending Asha for learning English when he had just passed SSC board exams. That time, he had already secured the admission for 11 th commerce without much thinking. As he started sharing his desires about career , it was found that he has an ability to do some diploma in interior designing .He was promptly provided with the necessary help in the form of financial aid and facilities to study at Asha He was encouraged to earn part of his fees for the course. He worked with the Dominos Pizza for over two years.
Today after completion of the diploma he is standing confident with a good number of contracts in interior redevelopment jobs. He is so excited about Asha and its functioning, that now he wants to support the children in his village in UP where there are abysmal school facilities. This could be the extension of Asha Mumbai in future or can be part of Asha Varanasi.
Today Shravan has become one of the Active volunteers cum supporter in Asha Mumbai along with pursuing his own business. He donated Rs. 4000/- to Asha from his first income.
2) Yogesh Ratudi:
Yogesh has received the support at Asha Mumbai not only monetarily but also classroom teaching. He was 12 yrs. old when he joined Asha and now he is finishing his Computer science degree in couple of Months. That apart, he is a regular supporter at Asha Mumbai. Teaching Math or science to younger students or an event at Asha, Yogesh will always be there. He too cherishes the principles of giving back to the society in whatever capacity he can.
3) GulAfsha Shaikh:
She has been coming Asha for tutions since she was in 5th and was not even knowing English alphabets. Today she is pursuing her M.Sc.in zoology, after trying to appear for Premedical exams. That apart she cherishes the dream of becoming a professor in the subject. Her family background is very conservative but she has all the freedom to work with Asha .She often visits and teaches younger students at Asha.
4) Khushboo Yadav:
Family background: One of the girls of 5 siblings. Has been with Asha since she was in 4th standard and financial condition was such that she had to work at home on Sundays to complete the order of making artificial jewelry, apart from helping in household chores.
She cherished the dream to join civil services. Though we could not support her due to financial shortfall, she was always encouraged to pursue a valuable career. And she chose to join IT field.
Today she is completing her B.sc IT and wants to pursue further career. Teaching is her choice of profession. She is planning to teach at Asha.
5) Digvijay Maurya:
Family background: He is the eldest of the 4 children in the family, father a driver of a personal car, one physically and mentally challenged brother, one sister and a younger brother. Father does not have a regular job. In this situation Digvijay pursued his studies upto BMM. While being encouraged to become a Video editor as that was his deep desire, he is pursuing the course in video editing as well. Along with all these academic commitments he helps Asha for keeping the accounts in place and updating Website. He is also supported to pursue the career by raising scholarship locally. One day he will be a successful in his profession.
6) Dhiraj Vishwakarma:
Family background: A son of a welder without a very regular job was Asha Student from last 7 years. He somehow managed to clear SSC with 49% but Asha members felt he is more talented than is shown in his results, so he was encouraged by Asha members to do some digital mapping with help of few software in GIS .He was chosen to learn this software by Prof Jitendra Shah who is a visiting professor in IIT Mumbai. Today Dheeraj has mastered many software languages and is interested in Robotics and pursing to make a Robot.
7) Satyam Prajapati:
Family background: Father is a Potter in village. The boy came to Mumbai to live with his aunt.That time he was in 6th stadard. But he was asked to do laborious jobs at her vegetable shop. He joined Asha for tuitions .Narrated his story when asked why he would be absent for some classes. After sometime he was asked to stay at Asha and help out in cleaning the center and He was supported for his expenses by Asha. Today he has joined Bsc IT graduate course. He too is very much interested in programming languages and wants to excel in Robotics .He is fully encouraged to do so by Asha. He too cherishes the desire to be a successful professional and give back to Asha.
8) Satish Rajbhar:
Migrated from UP with his struggling brothers, he was an average student, He had joined Asha for tuitions at 6th standard. Today a little naughty boy has become very responsible individual. Not interested in academics but has very good managerial skills. He is responsible for lots of classroom management, Asha Midday Meal Plan and day to day management of Asha Center .He simultaneously does some other contractual activities and earns his livelihood along with some Honorarium from Asha.